A Thousand Roses
by Uncle G
Summary: When April and Andy find out one of their friends is dying, they do whatever they can make sure Leslie spends the remainder of her days doing the things she always wanted to do before her time expires. Follow this not-really sad adventure as it progress through the coming months to find out what happens.
1. Bert Macklin on the Case

"Do you think she's on drugs?" April asked.

"Of course not April, why would Leslie be doing drugs?"

"Because, Andy, she hasn't been normal for the past few weeks, unless... unless she has zombie brain!" April said back to him in a playful whisper.

"Whatever the case..." Andy put on his FBI glasses and jacket. "Bert Macklin is on it. They thought he was retired. Twice. And twice they were wrong. We need a lead first, where should we look?"

"Have no fear Agent Macklin, i already looked there, and look what i found..." She held up an empty pill bottle in one hand. And a scrap of paper in the other.

Andy fake gasped and said."Well, what do we have here?"

"This is Burt Macklin's greatest case, a drug bust. Look at this paper, there is a place and a time. A drug deal time, we must invesetigate Agent Macklin." April spoke in her spy voice.

"And... And we only have 2 hours to get there in order to stake it out! Come on, come on, we can leave work, Jerry will be fine without us"

They both looked at Jerry filing the files for a few seconds, and dashed towards the door.

"Wait for me Agent Macklin!"

(1 hour 48 minutes later)

"The time is... the time is 4:28p.m., subject is approaching. The location is a hospital. She just got out of her car..." Andy said as if he were talking into a tape-recorder.

"The supplier is stealing the drugs from kids, and Leslie is taking them! Good job Les." April was enjoying this adventure. She brought her big hat and sunglasses as her undercover clothing.

"Yeah..." Andy said. "Nobody steals medicine from kids on my watch.

Andy spoke franticly "Where did sh- she must have entered the building. We must enter at raid the building. This deal is going down."

"Maybe we shouldn-" Before April could finish Andy was dashing towards the hospital with his finger pistol drawn, so she got out and ran after him.

"Alright! Nobody move!" He walked up towards the old receptionist and held up his badge. "Bert Macklin, FBI, im looking for a blonde woman who just walked in here maybe 10 minutes ago? her name is Leslie Knope. You seen her?"

"First of all, thats a piece of paper with FBI written in crayon. Second of all i can let you in unless you are on her emergency contact list. Show me some ID or get the hell outta here."

"April Ludgate-Dwyer. He's my husband" April got her ID card out. "Here."

They waited while the receptionist typed away at her keyboard. She finally handed April her ID back. "The girl you are looking for should be on Floor 7 room 162. And take those stupid glasses off, both of you. Wearing glasses inside makes you look like a douche."

"Geez," Andy whispered as they walked away. "Does she have to be so mean?"

"Don't worry, she's old, she's going die soon."

"April are you sure we should even be here? I mean, we are getting into Lesli-"

"Come on, Andy..." April complained "Would Bert turn this Job down? We are already here so whats the point of turning back now? And besides, we need to know whats up with Leslie, don't we."

"Well, you do have a point..."

The continued their little adventure until they finally made it to their destination.

"When when we go in, be ready to make an arrest, Macklin..." April went back to her role-playing voice "This is our chance to get awarded by the president!"

Andy and April just walked in, not yelling anything, because they were more curiouse now that when they were first started this quest.

"I presume you are in the wrong room?" The doctor said without turning around.

"Umm... no? Me and my husband are looking for our friend Leslie. We were told she would be in here." April said in her deadpan voice."Where is she?"

"Well, i am Dr. Dianna Ikins, nice to meet you. Mr. Knope is in there..." She pointed to the large glass window. "She's getting an MRI done. She insisted after she stated having persistant headaches and blurred vision."

"Is that bad? That sounds bad. Not as bad as that time i fell in the pit and broke my legs though, still, it sounds pretty bad." Andy asked, a little worry was in his voice.

"It has the potential to be bad, but we get several cases like this every month, and they turn out to be nothing. Most of the time." Dianna pointed out. "Just a few more minutes."

"Andy, April, why are you guys here? I didn't ask you guys to come!" Leslie said as soon as she exited the testing room and entered the viewing room and saw two of her friends.

"We looked in your purse. I tracked you to here." April said, staring at her boss.

"Why, though?"

"Because we were bored."

"Yeah," Andy sniffed. "And because Bert Macklin was investigating a drug smuggling ring, you were our lead."

"I- wha-"

"The results are in. Come over here." They all gathered around Dianna. "Everything is normal... but, when we get here."

She pointed at the screen, to a dark spot on the brain "Right... there, that's what we are worried about."

"Oh my god..." Leslie was about to start hyperventalating "What is it. Is it bad, it's not bad, is it? Tell me."

April was a little shakey, the doctor sounded like she was about to deliver bad news.

"We caught it early on, we can get you into surgery and after that we can try radiation surgury and chemother-"

"What does she have doc?!" Andy yelled it louder than he should have, but things were going down hill in Bert Macklin's latest case.

"Well..." She said."You have a Glioblastoma, a level 4 cancer."


	2. An Idea for Happiness

**Authors Note: Sorry for leaving y'all hanging. Dick move on my part. A real dick move. But i haven't watched Parks and Recreations in a while. Here goes everything. The writing may be a little different from what i wrote before. I'm going to try to make this beautiful and sad, while maintaining character personality and the comedy of the show. Im changing it to where i'm doing Third person of a single character at once, like the other fanfic i recently started. I'll fit in as many characters as i can. In this PR universe, Ben and Leslie aren't married but are lovers, and don't have kids, the year is 2016, they don't have high-tech stuff like they did in the final season of the TV show, and Leslie never took that one job, and stayed in the Parks and Recreation department (do i know what i'm even talking about)? Chapters will get longer. Im going to be posting a lot more frequently.**

* * *

 **Leslie:**

It was as if Leslie had been hit by an 18 wheeler. She almost collapsed from the news she just heard. She almost collapsed, but Andy caught her.

" _Level 4 cancer?_ " She thought. Leslie then spoke a loud once she regained her balance. "This has to be a joke, right? Cancer, our definitions of it are the same right? I only have headaches, not cancer. Not in my book."

Dr. Ikins had a mildly irritated look on her face. "This is not time for joking. We have to schedule you for surgery, and chemotherapy until then, otherwise Leslie, you will die."

Leslie looked back at her co-workers just in time for her to see Andy wiping away tears, and water creeping on the edge of April's eyes. For Leslie, seeing her friends like this was worse than being told she was dying.

"Bert Macklin can help you Leslie," Andy started, his voice was like a shattered window. "But you have to let the doctors help you first."

These words were the ones that sent her over the edge. She was trying not to cry, because if she did, she wouldn't be able to stop. She was right. Andy and April got her again as she almost collapsed again. They hugged her. What once was just a fun game for Andy and April turned into a life changing experience. No one expected this to happen, but as they say, life just happens…

When Leslie could stand on her own (again) She addressed Dr. Ikins with her brave face. "Fine, give me all you've got to fight this thing. We're going to beat the crap of this thing, right guys?"

She watched her lovebirds wipe away their tears, and replace them with smiles, even if they were totally forced. It somehow made the news less scary.

"Alright, let's go get the paperwork done." Dr. Ikins said, looking at Leslie. She then turned towards Andy and April "I'm going to need you two to at least wait in the waiting room while we run tests on Ms. Knope here."

"It'll be alright guys, i'm not going anywhere, i'm a mean, green, feminist machine. Just don't tell anyone anything, alright?" Leslie told them, starting to get her old excitement back.

Andy hugged her once more, and whispered to her. "It's gonna be alright..."

April

April had always tried to convince herself and others she wasn't human, she had always went the extra mile to prove to people that she wasn't a real human. Her tears when when she heard the news about Leslie reinforced that fact that she was indeed human like everyone else.

At one point, she even told herself that she had came to terms with the death of her friends beforehand, so she wouldn't make a mess of herself in front of everyone. This was different, though, because Leslie was one of her best friends even though she hated to admit it, and April had to watch her die. Worst of all, there was nothing she could do, it was in the hands of the professionals know.

"April, we've been here 5 hours," Andy complained, to her. He was trying to cope with the sadness by returning to how he was before. She loved him so much. "Can I please get a snack from the vending machine? Please?"

April thought it funny how he was like a little child. She pulled out a dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to him. "Ok, fine."

She got a message from Jerry, wondering where they were, and if they knew where Leslie was at. "We are at…" She started texting. She decided to ask Andy to help her out a bit.

"Where are we Andy? We need a cover for when someone asks." She told him. She saw Andy's face light up. He loved making up lies for whenever he needed them; April once found his stash of notebooks, all filled with lies for different occasions. April borrowed some lies from it once and got away with it.

"Disneyland? I've always wanted to go there, but my mom said that was where kids go to get molestered." He said. April had to hold back her laugh.

"But did we do when we got there?" He started thinking. "Did we fight Mickey? I always thought i could take him, but he has big hands, and it give him an advantage.."

April started laughing. Andy talking about what he always wanted to do gave April an idea on how to help Leslie.

"Andy, Do you want to help me make Leslie very happy?" She asked him. As she expected, Andy jumped at the idea.

"Yeah, You know I would do anything for her!" He responded, "What is it?"

"We have to get to her house, and find her bucket list. If we do everything on it, Leslie wont be sad anymore. Alright?"

"Im driving." Was all he said, as he started power walking down the hall already, leaving April in the dust.

"Wait up!" she called after him.

" _Maybe this will all be alright._ " She thought to herself.

* * *

 **More Notes:** **Trust me when I say that next chapter is going to be extra long.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Im sorry for giving you guys the thought that this story wouldn't be sad, but rather happy. This story may get dark, i've been doing research on brain cancer, although i am not a professional, and there will more than likely be mistakes in the medical side of this. Leslie will probably end up acting slightly ooc, because you know, it is a brain tumor after all. Get your feels and tie them up, otherwise they will be going on a roller-coaster. I know I said i would update more last time, but this time i mean it. Also, i've been reading up on parks and recreation, and this story is going to play out based on the thought that Andy is smarter than what he seems. Please don't mind any mistakes.**

To say she was scared was an understatement. She thought back to that time when she was dating that one doctor (She couldn't remember his name anymore) and he gave her an MRI. What if when he had pointed out that spot on the computer, it wasn't just a spot.

The thought that if what he had pointed out really was what she had now made her mad. His mistake could, and most likely would, cost her life. But obviously she would fight it. She had all her friends to fight for.

The tests earlier that day hadn't been as spooky as she thought they would be, and the paperwork was more extensive than she thought. Somehow Leslie found herself staying overnight in the hospital, but she thought it would be better than going home and the doctors not finding something they could have found sooner. At least she could go home tomorrow and experience the comfort of her own bed.

She looked at the hospital window, and the night seemed darker; but the thought was only transient; instead, she thought about how she would design the park in the lot next to Ann's old house for the 900th time. Each time, the park was more beautiful than what she thought last time. She closed her heavy eyelids, succumbing to sleep and dreams of the park. Rather than the park in her dreams being happy, there was something about the dream this time that made her feel hopeful that everything would be alright.

When she awoke the next morning, she was almost startled to find Andy's face just inches from her own.

" Are you feeling alright? We have a busy day planned, gotta go fast, or slow, whatever you want of course Leslie." He spoke fast enough that Leslie had to take a few seconds to comprehend what it was that he was saying.

"What are you talking about, what plans? I have to work later today." She told him. Something told her she wouldn't quite like what he was going to say next. This feeling was only exacerbated when she saw a sly smile grow across his face. She was dreading the answer to her next question, but she asked it anyways. "Andy.. What did you do?"

"April is outside, cashing in your sick days AND vacation days. Just imagine the things we can do in that time." He stated triumphantly.

Leslie paled with his words. More than that in fact, saying she was as white at a sheet of paper at this point wouldn't fit how pale she was. Leslie had never, EVER called in sick (aside from 1 or 2 days, but those were debatable, as she still worked) or used vacation days in all her years in the Parks and Recreation department.

"Gosh darnit Andy," She tried getting out of the bed, but Andy held her down "Let me go Andy, i'm going to work!"

"I would but you still have tubey-thingies in you." He said as he gave up on holding her whole body down, and just held down her right arm, with all the IV's in it. Leslie calmed down, but that didn't stop her from giving Andy a glare that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up.

April came into the room with a big, purple binder with glitter-gold words on the front that simply said "Bucket-L". Despite the tension, April spoke anyways.

"These are our plans for the next 3 months of vacation and sick days you had stored. We're going to do as many things on your bucket list as possible." She said.

"All 832 pages of it." Andy finished.

Leslie sighed and leaned back into the bed.'Three months? There had to be a mistake somewhere.'

 _ **Andy**_

Even though he was devastated by the news of his friends illness, Andy still put on the same face, and the same humor that he always had; thinks would be changing for Leslie, and if she needed something constant to hold on to, he would make sure he was the same Andy she knew.

When he told her about their plans and April calling her of work for what he found out would be 3 months, Leslie's reaction made him think that he had done something wrong. He just hoped this would go as planned, and Leslie would forgive them from ruining her perfect work attendance.

Now as it approached 10 in the morning, Dr. Ikins had finally finished those tests that Leslie had been going through and would be back soon. He sat in the chair next to Leslie's bed, April in the chair next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He casually flipped through the pages in Leslie's bucket list. It made him want to do things he never thought that he would want to do, like these things called wingsuits, and jumping off a mountain with one. Imagining Leslie do this made him smile; his mind already mapping out plans to make it happen. He calmed his thoughts down as Dr. Ikins entered the room. His ears perked up, wanting to absorb all the news he could. He felt April shift ever so slightly.

"Well, some results are in, just some of the basics, but if all goes right, we can get you on chemotherapy, but if you want to take a risk, there is a new research going on at John Hopkins, it's still in the very early stages, but I've got a few friends, i might be able to squeeze you in there." Diana said, hinting that Leslie should take the offer.

 _'_ _That's like a 9 or 10 hour drive… Plenty of time for bucket-listing…'_ Andy thought to himself. Then he spoke aloud. "I think you should do it. Sounds like a great opportunity to see new things and get better at the same time."

"Hmm…" Leslie thought for a few seconds, Andy could already predict her answer. "Im not sure, what if people at work start asking questions? Then what? I dont think im ready to tell them yet."

At this point, April wasn't even pretending to be asleep anymore. "I think you should do it too. Maybe even get your loverboy Ben to come along. I don't say this often, but i feel like if you go, everything will turn out alright."

Leslie was lost in thought as she considered her options. Andy was hoping that she would clue Ben into the whole ordeal, since more than half of all the things Leslie wants to do requires a Boyfriend/Significant other; and he didn't think April would be too happy sharing him,

"Fine, just give me the details, and you can bet your bottom i'll go. And since im serious about Ben, I know he'd be more than happy to go with me." She finally said.

"And Us-" April started

"We're going too." Andy finished.

Leslie smiled, it was all she could do. "And of course you guys…"

"Alrighty then, i'll make a few calls, get you some papers, and we'll take it from there. Just assume you're already in the trial, you'll need to be there by Friday next week." Dr. Ikins stated before turning and walking out the door. "A nurse will be with you soon, and then you can go."

Andy got up to go too. "I'm going to start packing a few essentials, makin' plans you know?"

April nodded her head "I'll stay here, and keep an eye on Leslie, I love seeing her sad." Even as the words as the words left her mouth, they understood the hidden meaning of April's words and how much she actually cared for her blonde friend.

"Actually Andy," Leslie said, "If Ben is going to come with us, I think he should do the planning."

Andy still had his back towards them and a smile that kept getting bigger on his face. "Bert Macklin's already on the case."

And with that, he left.

 **More Notes: I already know how it's going to end, but how we get there, is up to y'all and what y'all would like to see. Writing may suck this chapter, but i just gotta get warmed up. I've been will get longer; and even longer than that if y'all give me suggestions for Bucket List ideas.**


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